Notre Dame football opened its 2022 college football season with a loss to Ohio State. In spite of that, the Fighting Irish can take solace in several bright spots on display as they fell to the Buckeyes, 21-10.

It wasn't the fairy-tale ending that Fighting Irish fans had hoped for in head coach Marcus Freeman's regular-season debut. Still, No. 5 Notre Dame put up quite a fight against No. 2 Ohio State on the road.

Notre Dame's defense came up big against what may be the nation's greatest offense in Ohio State. The Fighting Irish offense, however, ultimately didn't do enough to put points on the board despite leading for much of the night.

It's never really good to open the season with a loss, but Notre Dame football can still get a number of positive takeaways from this defeat to Ohio State.

3. Run game really needs improvement

Notre Dame football is known for having a strong run game. In this matchup, however, despite having some real dogs in the backfield, their rushing attack just left a lot to be desired.

Chris Tyree led the team in rushing yards with 28, which was just not nearly high enough for a team that believed they could upset the Buckeyes on the road. Tyree, of course, has the potential to be a feature back in this offense. He's also a nice change of pace from Audric Estime, who appears to be an absolute truck. On Saturday, Estime saw action for the first time in his career. He rushed for 21 yards and a touchdown on nine runs against the Buckeyes.

Logan Diggs, for his part, got only four carries for nine yards. In all, Notre Dame's run game was extremely limited. They just didn't make much of an impact outside of Estime's TD. This is clearly an area that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Again, the Irish ran 30 times for 76 yards and one touchdown, which will never be enough against teams like USC, BYU, or Clemson.

Some blame can also be placed on Notre Dame's underwhelming offensive line. The Irish O-line received a lot of hype ahead of the opening game, but they performed well below expectations. The chinks in their armor need to be quickly fixed if the o-line will give the rest of the offense a chance to really shine.

2. Notre Dame's defense was solid

It's easy to say that, after watching this game, Notre Dame's defense far exceeded expectations. Despite playing in hostile territory, the Irish held an explosive Ohio State squad to 21 points and less than 400 yards. That was much lower than what many experts projected, especially given the depth and firepower that the Buckeyes possessed.

The Notre Dame defensive line, in particular, was better than expected. The D-line was really the main reason for optimism with this defense, and they showed up big time against Ohio State. The defensive line's regular pressures caused so much havoc, and it was really the biggest reason for Notre Dame's 10-7 lead for much of the night.

Keep in mind that Ohio State entered the game with a Heisman Trophy contender, perhaps the finest receiver in the country, and a Doak Walker-type running back. They were expected to score in or around the 40s, but the Irish defense prevented that.

Star Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud also had a tough time. He was restricted to 6.6 yards per attempt and two passing touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had only two catches for three yards (perhaps due to an injury), while TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 91 yards on 15 attempts.

Notre Dame came out and played aggressively on defense, and you could see Marcus Freeman's fingerprints all over this squad.

1. Tyler Buchner wasn't half bad

19-year-old QB Tyler Buchner made his first collegiate start and completed his first eight throws to get things started. That included a 54-yard touchdown pass to Lorenzo Styles. Obviously, he started excellently. Another plus was not putting the ball in danger all night.

Again, in his first big-time start for the Irish, Buchner completed eight straight passes and looked calm, cool, and collected doing it. He was making difficult passes and throwing dots to his receivers. He never got too high or too low, and despite finishing only 10-for-18, he had 177 yards.

Buchner didn't throw any picks or make any huge blunders as well. He put the Irish in a position to win the game. Again, keep in mind that this is his first year as QB1. He definitely has a promising future.

It's wise to buy all of the Buchner stock you can right now. This young QB just has the makings of the next great Notre Dame quarterback.

With his powerful arm and agility, Buchner should quickly find success under offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.